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VICOE

This project is sponsored by the REAP West-Brabant

VICOE is an abbreviation for Vital Circular Organic Economy.

The term Vital concerns the soil. A vital soil delivers vital, healthy, and powerful crops. The term Circular concerns the circulation of nutrients. Trough feeding the soil with the suitable organic substance an active soil-live arises that, in symbiosis with the plant, ensures a good growth. The parts of the plant that grow and are present after harvesting and consumption, form an organic substance to feed the soil. This completes the cycle.

The term Organic stands for the growth and use of organic material. Thus, anything that has to do with plants or digested plants (manure).

The term Economy indicates that there are phases. The plants deliver organic material and the soil therefore asks to stay healthy. The plants then again ask for a healthy soil. There is a natural play of supply and demand. Besides that, the term Economy also concerns the trade that arises through VICOE. There are providers of organic material / biomass, such as citizens, farmers, and nurserymen and there are demanders for the end products of organic material, such as compost, green gas, current, and substances of parts of the plant. 

VICOE is a project that stresses on a healthy soil. A soil with healthy soil biology provides healthy crops. In order to feed the soil, organic substance made out of biomass is essential. Within the project of VICOE obtaining, processing, and application of organic substances is central. Biomass (such as; biodegradable waste and manure) within a specific area, in this case Zundert) is collected and processed into all kinds of products, such as; compost, green gas, raw materials for bioplastics or medications, and current.

Citizens, industrial companies, farmers, and gardeners use these products again. This completes the circle. 

VICOE is not a complicated system. In fact nature is simulated. Crucial for that simulation is a healthy soil where millions of bacteria’s, fungi, and insects continuously convert organic substances into very fertile plant nutrition. This healthy living soil makes sure that the plants stay healthy. Besides that, the benthos ensures that the plants can take more than enough nutrition. The use of chemicals such as fertilizer and pesticides becomes unnecessary because of the natural process. Not using chemicals has a positive effect on the quality of water. Besides that, chemicals kill the benthos which leads to a negative effect on the growth of crops. The use of chemicals always leads to even more use of chemicals. This vicious circle is broken by VICOE. Within an area, the available biomass can take care of a healthier agriculture and horticulture by itself.

The result of VICOE is that the diversity within the soil increases. By not using chemicals, much more organisms, herbaceous crops, and microorganisms stay vital and functional. This ensures much more natural resistance within a crop, which in its turn leads to a further decrease in the use of chemicals. In this manner we recover a natural ecosystem that does not bring damage to humans or the environment. 

Within VICOE biomass is upgraded from waste to useful products. This upgrade leads to a new economic activity with employment. Only in this way it is possible to realize a VICOE.

Because of the fact that biomass can come from citizens, municipalities, farmers, nature organisations, gardeners, a.o. a lot of parties need each other within VICOE. Companies, institutes, and organizations that generally do not know each other, get a direct relation thanks to VICOE. Through this they learn to understand each other. This makes it possible to eventually develop municipal or nationwide government policies on VICOE. 

The Province Noord-Brabant, Kamer van Koophandel West Brabant, united in REAP have delivered a financial contribution to this project.